- Hey, everyone.
Welcome back to my channel.
So sometimes it feels like the world is
obsessed with erections and this video is no different.
I even added a dildo to my shelves
because I already have a vulva,
we needed something phallic.
This video is sponsored by EveAdam
who are an online pharmacy
where you can get contraception
and erectile dysfunction treatments.
With it all being online,
it means you don't have to leave the house
or wait for doctor's appointments
and prescriptions get sent straight to you.
One of my favourite things about their service
is that on the contraception page,
they have a list of
all of the different kinds of pills available,
their prices, and a short description
about the differences between them
which I've never had a doctor explain to me before.
So for example, it might say,
this is the exact same pill as this one,
except this is the branded one,
and this is the generic version.
One might say, this has a 12 hour window,
this one has a three hour window,
this one has a lower dosage of oestrogen,
et cetera, et cetera.
And I just find that information really useful.
Anyway, this video is not about contraception.
It is not an episode of the hormone diaries.
Today we are here to talk about erectile dysfunction.
A lot of the topics that I cover on this channel
and also on my podcast, tend to focus on the bodies
and sexual function of people with vulvas,
because I have a vulva
as do the majority of my audience, I assume.
But this video is all about penises
and it's not just relevant to those who have penises,
it's also a relevant topic to those
who maybe have sexual partners who have penises
and also just sex nerds like me
who find this stuff fascinating.
Also, I hear in the comments that some couples
watch my videos together and I absolutely love that,
so hello to any couples who are
watching and learning together, we love to see it.
So erectile dysfunction.
On my journey of learning about erectile dysfunction,
I learned something about Viagra that I did not know before.
And I am so excited to share this with you.
But first, what is erectile dysfunction and what causes it?
So erectile dysfunction or ED
is the inability to get and maintain an erection.
And this is completely normal to happen occasionally,
and these are some of the reasons why occasionally
you might not be able to get it up.
Number one, stress,
could be work, financial, emotional
or just general life stress.
Number two, tiredness.
Our bodies just don't like to function sometimes
when we're tired, it just doesn't happen.
Listen to your body.
Number three, alcohol.
I'm sure some of us are well aware of the irony,
the alcohol makes you super horny,
but then it just hinders your genitals.
And that goes with people with penises and vulvas.
But yeah, you might not be able to get it up
because you had a bit too much to drink.
And number four is anxiety.
This could be general anxiety
but more specifically performance anxiety.
So worried about being good in bed,
worrying about what your partner is thinking,
body image issues,
and then also just the cherry on top,
worrying about not being able to get an erection,
and then it just becomes this self perpetuating cycle.
Oh, how cruel.
Now there are some other causes,
if your ED is more of an ongoing issue,
and I am not a doctor, and this is not an exhaustive list.
So if your ED is persistent, please go speak to a doctor.
Diabetes, blood circulation and cardiovascular issues,
hormones in terms of testosterone levels,
side effects of any medication that you might be on,
and psychological causes like depression.
If you've got persistent ED,
it can mean that there's an underlying problem
affecting your blood flow that needs treatment.
And while taking something like Viagra
can help you get erections,
it won't sort out an underlying problem if there is one.
So if you do have persistent ED please speak to your doctor.
Viagra, what is it?
And how does it work?
Sildenafil which is the chemical name for Viagra
was originally developed to treat chest pain
and high blood pressure,
but they accidentally found out that it helped with
erections.
And so Viagra was launched as an erectile dysfunction drug
in 1998.
There are other drug similar to Viagra
like Cialis and Levitra,
and just like with the birth control on EveAdam's website
there are all of the different options available
with the differences in price, and then also how they work.
So like how long it lasts, how quickly it kicks in,
and then is it a brand name or is it a generic name?
Generic ones tend to be cheaper.
All very useful information.
Thank you, EveAdam.
But the thing that all of these drugs have in common
is that they are PDE 5 inhibitors, more on that in a bit.
So in the case of Viagra,
it takes 30 to 60 minutes to work
and you can take it up to four hours
before you want to have sex.
But here's the kicker that I did not know until recently.
So I assumed that you take something like Viagra and bam,
erection.
But no,
mm mm mm.
Just taking Viagra won't cause an erection.
You have to be aroused for it to work.
Let me explain.
Erection function comes in two parts,
part one, the accelerator and part two, the brakes.
The accelerator is the equivalent of you getting aroused
blood vessels widen so blood can flow to the penis.
The brakes is the PDE 5 enzyme
which narrows the blood vessels and the erection is gone.
Now, this is a good thing because you don't want
to be walking around with a permanent erection.
No, thank you.
So like I said, drugs like Viagra are PDE 5 inhibitors
which means they take the pressure off the brakes
but you still need your foot on the accelerator
for the car to move.
AKA, you still need to be turned on for it to work.
How to get turned on.
There are more car analogies in a whole video that I did
about sexual arousal, if you want to go into detail
about how to get turned on, but here are my top tips.
Number one, reduce stress in whatever way works for you.
Number two, take things slow, there is no rush.
Take your time, allow arousal to build.
Number three, focus on pleasure not performance.
And number four focus on feeling, not function.
Yes, those last two are basically the exact same tip.
Just worded slightly differently,
depending, you know
if you needed to hear it in a different way.
But essentially what that means is just focusing
on what you're feeling, focus on what is pleasurable
rather than focusing on what is working or not.
Because you can still have a jolly good time
without the performance part working, working.
And do you know what else is helpful?
Having a supportive partner who is nonjudgmental
and able to have open communication about sex.
Talking about erectile dysfunction,
EveAdam did a YouGov survey about erectile dysfunction
and they found that 47% of men
said that they would tell a romantic partner
if they were using erectile dysfunction treatment.
And 36% said that they would tell a sexual partner.
Obviously those are big percentages of people
who say that they would
tell their romantic or sexual partner,
but the majority are still saying that they wouldn't.
And now EveAdam are running a new survey,
and you know how much I love sex surveys,
so much that I've run my own, yearly.
So this survey is actually aimed at the partners
of people who do or could experience erectile dysfunction
and is asking questions
about the impact of ED on relationships.
And it is called The Erection Poll.
You don't have to have had a partner experience ED
to answer the survey
because a lot of the questions are hypothetical,
like what would you do or say if blank?
So please take the survey
if you are somebody who has sex with,
or is interested in sex with people with penises,
and please share it around,
the link to it is in the description,
and I'm going to be doing a followup video
going through the results of the survey
and talking about how to deal with ED in a relationship.
So if you have any questions about that,
please leave them in the comments
so I know what you guys want to know about.
Thank you so much for watching
and thanks to EveAdam for sponsoring this video
and I'll see you in my next one, bye!
(upbeat music)